1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of producing an electronic unit of a radio system and an electronic unit of a radio system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In modern radio technology, the production of different electronic units and components has been automated as far as possible to obtain, on one hand, savings in costs and, on the other hand, to ensure uniform quality of the properties of the produced devices. In automatic production, the decrease of the number of manual stages or their omission altogether improves the uniform quality, in which case quality variation due to manual work can be reduced in connection with soldering, for example.
The capacities used in radio technology typically cause heating of devices and components. For this reason, it is necessary to cool the components to be used effectively, in particular high-power components. This can be performed, for example, by connecting a component to a mechanical part of the electronic unit. However, also in this case, the electric connecting means of the component have to be attached to the surface of a circuit board.
In prior art solutions, an electronic component is arranged on a circuit board so that its flange is placed in an opening provided in the circuit board. In that case, the electronic component can be attached to the mechanical part, and electric connecting means can be attached by soldering them to electric connecting means on the surface of the circuit board, in which case high-frequency power passes through the solder joints.
A drawback of the solution is, however, that it includes several manual stages. Components are soldered to the circuit board manually and the equipped circuit board cannot be attached automatically to the mechanics using a robot, for instance. The manual stages increase production costs and constitute a significant cost item in the production of large series, in particular.
A further problem is that due to the manual stages, the properties of electronic units, e.g. high-frequency properties, vary. For example, when a solder joint is made manually, the amount of solder varies, which affects the high-frequency properties.
A further disadvantage of the solutions according to prior art is that when a part of the circuit board is damaged, the whole circuit board usually needs to be broken up since the useful parts cannot be detached without breaking them due to the attachments used. In that case, a further problem is that it is difficult to separate hazardous waste, such as components containing toxic beryllium oxide, from other waste.